Friday, June 30, 2017

Not Yewtree, but close

The Mirror leads the way on the Sir Cliff v The BBC case this morning. The judge has ordered the BBC to reveal more about its source for the news that the popster was under investigation by South Yorkshire Police, specifically, if it was someone within Operation Yewtree. The paper, which says it has seen court papers, reports thus "The BBC’s source for the story was not part of Operation Yewtree but the tipster did get the details from the Met sex abuse inquiry." It would be good to have the exact words.

The Mirror also lays out some of Sir Cliff's justifications for special costs he's seeking from Auntie, totalling £279,261. £70,000 was spent on PR and solicitors to deal with online defamation and trolling, including posts on the Christians Against Cliff Facebook page. Sir Cliff also spent £15,000 on legal fees over a suspected blackmail plot after a man demanded money in return for not spreading false sex claims about him; £105,000 on handling media inquiries after the BBC "scoop"; and £37,000 on providing media interviews......